Brandon Twp.- Residents of Walnut Hills Estates are accustomed to a tranquil, secluded subdivision. However, the placid neighborhood was transformed on July 18 when tires squealed, police sirens wailed, and six gunshots rang out.
Scott Kajcienski was working on his computer around 8 p.m., July 18 when he heard the sirens in the neighborhood of upscale homes and manicured lawns near Perry Lake Road. He walked down his driveway to see what the commotion was and saw a blue Honda Accord race down his street.
‘I was yelling at the driver to slow down and I heard the cops coming,? said Kajcienski, who has lived in the subdivison for five years. ‘I saw the whole thing unwind.?
Kajcienski observed the blue sedan drop off a passenger, who ran through the woods. Then the driver, with no way out of the subdivision except the way he had come in which was now blocked by police, roared up a neighbor’s lawn at the end of the cul-de-sac.He drove behind the home into woods, before coming back out and driving onto the lawn of Dale and Michelle Brachel.
Kajcienski recalls standing about 50 feet away as the car got stuck, reversed, hit a police vehicle and hit an officer.
He hit a cop in the leg with the car,? Kajcienski said. ‘The police were yelling, ‘stop, freeze? and the guy was revving his engine and then floored it toward the police and the cop unloaded on him. Within split seconds they all came flying in and grabbed and ripped the guy out of the car. I was kinda scared.?
Oakland County Sheriff’s Major Damon Shields said the incident began on Sashabaw Road in Independence Township when the patrol deputy observed the blue Honda turn in front of an oncoming vehicle, almost causing an accident. The deputy activated his lights and siren to pull the vehicle over and the driver fled north on Sashabaw and then west on Seymour Lake Road. The deputy pursued and called for backup. The suspect pulled north onto Perry Lake Road, discarding a baggie of what is believed to be a narcotic substance, and then turned west into the subdivision, of which there is only one entrance and exit.
Approximately 15 patrol cars responded to assist the deputy. Shields confirmed that six shots were fired by the 29-year-old deputy who has been on the force for nine years and was struck in the leg by the vehicle. He is not sure of the number of bullets that struck the suspect, but said it was ‘very probable? the man was hit in the chest and arm. At press time, the suspect was in stable condition at an undisclosed hospital. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. The suspect has an extensive criminal history and had been released from prison on parole for felony traffic violations last month. Shields says the man did not have a weapon, ‘other than the car.?
Michelle Brachel was in her home when her husband Dale came in and told her a shooting just happened on their front lawn. Her husband had been standing in the driveway as it unfolded. She had heard the shots, which she described as sounding like firecrackers. When she walked out to see what was happening, she saw the suspect lying on the ground, bleeding.
‘It was upsetting,? said Brachel, who was 13 when her mother was shot and killed by a neighbor in Flint. ‘I don’t like guns. I wondered, why did he shoot him six times??
Shields explained that the number of rounds is not relevant, the threat is.
‘When you have an individual with no concern for the public or his fellow man and he comes at you with a vehicle, it’s one of those situations where the officer has no choice,? he said. ‘The level of our training is when you discharge a firearm, it’s to mitigate a threat. You fire until the threat stops. You use the number of rounds needed to stop the threat.?
Kajcienski believes the officer was justified.
‘This guy was trying to kill the cop,? he said. ‘I would have shot him sooner.?
The sheriff’s office was waiting on crime lab and toxicology reports and expected to present the case against the driver to prosecutors by this week. The uninjured passenger was not a suspect at press time and did not evade police. Shields said charges against the driver could range from felonious assault with a motor vehicle all the way up to attempted murder.
Shields noted the driver also endangered others besides the officer.
‘The peril was to anyone on the roadway or even in their backyard with the way this guy was driving,? he said. ‘He was physically driving around homes. That kind of thing doesn’t normally happen. This guy was way beyond a normal pursuit in terms of what he was doing and how he was driving… It’s one of those very strange cases.?